The painting from which this hand-signed archival print derives, ‘The Guiding Sphere II (Homage to Cezanne)’ (1979–80), is among Jeffrey Smart’s most triumphant. It was painted after the artist moved to his adoptive homeland of Italy, representing both the influence of his mentor Paul Cezanne and Smart’s own distinct artistic brilliance.

Meticulously rendered, ‘The Guiding Spheres II’ draws the viewer’s gaze down a highway fenced by golden orbs. Symbols of urban activity – a truck, road and highway – are instilled with a suprematist, almost mystical serenity. In the most unromantic of subjects, Smart finds the transcendental; Cezanne’s forms, his painted peaches, are echoed in the orbs.

As Smart reflected, “many of my paintings have in their origin a passing glance” – a moment of enchantment gleaned on a train trip or walk along a city’s outskirts. For collectors of modernist art, Smart or those seeking beauty in the mundane, ‘The Guiding Sphere II (Homage to Cezanne)’, accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity, is a sterling find.

Jeffrey SMART (1921 - 2013)
'The Guiding Spheres II (Homage to Cezanne)'
archival pigment print on paper
Image Size: 68 x 81 cm
Framed Dimensions: 101 x 112 x 4 cm
Signed: facsimile signature and editioned on margin

Condition: Very Good: Describes a work of art's image as Excellent, but may show some small signs of surrounding wear to paper or frame. There are no tears to paper margin or disruption to the paint surface.

(c) The Artist or Assignee